Chapter 21: Congratulations, You Won the Prize, Here’s Another One
Inside the cave, Su Xiao had just killed five Rain-Throat Tribe members when strange howls came from ahead.
Su Xiao sprinted forward, and after passing another turn, three arrows and two blow darts shot toward him.
Clang, clang~
Su Xiao slashed away one arrow, then horizontally blocked a blow dart aimed at his brow. The dart was deflected and embedded into the wooden planks above, emitting a hissing corrosive sound.
In the cave ahead, several Rain-Throat Tribe members crouched low, their longbows drawn. Behind them stood a row of tribe members holding wooden tubes nearly two meters long, their cheeks bulging.
Beyond these tribe members lay their underground living space, and hurried footsteps echoed from behind.
‘Blade Path: Slaughter.’
With a whoosh, a massive blood-red chain was slashed out by Su Xiao. Blade Path: Slaughter had the weakest attack power, but its range was large and could knock back enemies.
Several arrows pierced through the blood-red chain at high speed. One lodged into Su Xiao’s shoulder, while the others he dodged.
Su Xiao calmly pulled the arrow from his shoulder, ignoring the poisoned status. Few poisons could erode into his body, but this arrow’s power was astonishing—different from the one that had ambushed Amu. This arrow had weak toxicity but immense force, carrying effects that ignored flesh defense, strong penetration, and bleeding plus poisoning.
Su Xiao slashed back the few Rain-Throat Tribe members ahead. The footsteps grew denser as tribe members from the underground space rushed outward at high speed.
Just as Su Xiao turned to grab the Apollo from Xibei’er’s hands, Xibei’er behind him suddenly knelt to the ground, an arrow stuck in her lower abdomen.
Seeing Xibei’er on the verge of severe injury, Su Xiao was surprised but didn’t slow his movements. He grabbed Apollo No. 1 and hurled it into the underground space.
There wasn’t much difference between Apollo No. 1 through No. 4, except for their activation times.
“Babakuli (tribal language: Shoot his shoulder).”
A loud shout came, but it was too late.
Bang!
A blazing red afterimage was thrown out by Su Xiao. He extended one hand forward, releasing Cyan Steel Shadow energy to form a crystal wall.
Crack, crack, crack~
A crystal wall nearly three meters thick appeared ahead, completely sealing the cave. This consumed one-fifth of Su Xiao’s Cyan Steel Shadow energy, roughly equivalent to 4,063 mana points.
With a clang, an arm blade stabbed into the inner side of the crystal wall—it was Mu Xiao.
This level of crystal wall couldn’t be pierced by Mu Xiao’s single arm blade. As for using abilities to pass through the crystal wall, that was a pipe dream; the wall had extremely strong energy-blocking properties.
Inside the underground space, Mu Xiao used her forward momentum to plant her feet on the crystal wall, leaped up, and lunged toward the high-speed Apollo. Mu Xiao was clearly faster.
‘Faster, faster, I must not let this thing explode!’
Mu Xiao’s heart was almost screaming. As she dove at low altitude, she reached out one hand, her fingertips only 20 centimeters from Apollo. If she could grab this explosive, she was confident she could instantly devour it—that was her ability, Original Sin: Gluttony. The Gluttony Monarch could even eat away her pain, allowing her broken body to continue fighting.
Just as Mu Xiao’s fingertips were only 5 centimeters from Apollo, Su Xiao behind the crystal wall snapped his fingers.
Thud!
A muffled sound came from the underground space. Mu Xiao felt as if she had seen the sun up close.
“You bastard from Reincarnation Paradise!!”
In the solar flames, Mu Xiao roared as a gaping maw bit toward her.
Inside the underground space, Apollo’s flames instantly filled the area. The wooden structural frames there vaporized directly. The illusionist, who hadn’t even understood what was happening, was engulfed by the solar flames.
“Holy shit!”
The crow-masked man shouted, his whole body in agony, his mind blank. He had been exploring the origins of humanity with a promising native girl, thoroughly enjoying himself, when golden flames swallowed him.
Su Xiao sealed the front exit with a crystal layer, while Amu sealed the rear exit with ice. This underground space was completely enclosed, and the power of Apollo’s explosion was unimaginable.
A few seconds later, amidst the scorching flames, a large mouth full of sharp teeth appeared and spat out Mu Xiao.
“Huff, huff, huff~”
Mu Xiao propped herself up with one hand on the ground, greedily inhaling oxygen from a miniature oxygen tank. But before she could take a few breaths, the tank in her hand exploded, and the oxygen caused a burst of flames to surge up.
Looking at the underground space now, molten lava dripped from the walls and ceiling. The ground looked shiny—this was from the soil being incinerated, the sand particles within vitrified into glass.
“Anyone… still alive?”
Mu Xiao looked around, seeing nothing but fiery red.
“I’m… still alive.”
A burly man with half-melted armor sat on the ground, his whole body somewhat charred. But his condition was decent—he was a shieldless tank with over 30,000 health points. All his abilities and equipment were focused on boosting health and physical defense.
“Illusionist, I don’t believe you’re dead. That guy lent you his power—you won’t die so easily.”
As Mu Xiao’s shout faded, ripples appeared in the air, and the unharmed illusionist gradually materialized.
Mu Xiao, the burly man, the illusionist, the shaman priest, and the crow-masked man all survived. This was also why Su Xiao had improved Apollo for the third time. The unimproved Apollo was no longer much of a threat to seventh-rank contractors, but the improved version was different.
The reason Su Xiao didn’t use [Blazing Sun’s Wrath: Apollo] was simple: his crystal wall couldn’t block [Blazing Sun’s Wrath: Apollo]. If that thing exploded, forget the underground space—a massive crater three kilometers wide would appear, and he himself would be caught in the blast.
“Charge out. I don’t believe… there’s a second one of those explosives…”
Before Mu Xiao could finish, she heard a whoosh. Her body somewhat exhausted, she turned her gaze. An Apollo flew past her ear, the wind pressure lifting her hair.
“Original Sin: Glut…”
Thud!
The second Apollo exploded. Solar flames surged, and the burly main tank let out a wail.
A few seconds later, the solar flames subsided a bit.
The somewhat charred Gluttony Monarch spat out Mu Xiao. Not far from her was the illusionist, his whole body scorched, his skull visible through his face.
“Cough, cough~”
The illusionist coughed up hot blood. Nearby, the shaman priest had turned to charcoal, and the burly man was half-charred, barely breathing.
“Charge out. There won’t be… a third one.”
Mu Xiao struggled to stand up. She said this because the Gluttony Monarch might not withstand a third Apollo.
“Big sister, please, I beg you, don’t speak.”
The illusionist said with a smile. Even gravely injured, even facing death, he could still smile.
Swoosh~
A blazing red afterimage flew in. Both Mu Xiao’s and the illusionist’s pupils rapidly contracted. Mu Xiao leaped back so the Gluttony Monarch could swallow her faster, while the illusionist clasped his hands together.
Compared to these two, the burly main tank was much more relaxed. With half his body turned to charcoal, he lay flat as best he could—after all, this posture made his death look more peaceful.
Thud!
The third standard Apollo exploded. The shockwave compacted the surrounding lava, making the underground space more solid and sealed.
When the third Apollo’s explosion subsided, both Mu Xiao and the illusionist lay sprawled on the ground. There was no more fire around—everything flammable had been burned away. The air temperature alone was enough to kill.
At the entrance, behind three layers of shattered crystal wall, Su Xiao removed his gas mask and looked into the underground space.
“Tenacious.”
Su Xiao took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. He used the Apollo’s heat to light the cigarette, then tossed this Apollo into the underground space.
The Apollo flew in a parabolic arc, finally landing in the lava beside the illusionist.
Lying in the lava, the illusionist rolled his eyes and looked at the Apollo nearby.
“Damn it.”
The illusionist, who had always maintained his composure, started cursing from the blast. As for Mu Xiao beside him, she had given up—the Gluttony Monarch had been blown to pieces alive.
Thud.
The fourth Apollo exploded, engulfing both the illusionist and Mu Xiao.